RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 A first inventory of plastic litter and some associated total metal contents at the coastline of the Bay of Asunción (Paraguay)
A1 Diez Pérez Núñez, Diana Beatriz
A1 Peralta, Deyanira
A1 Serafini, Dahiana
A1 Colmán Penayo, Derlysa Ariela
A1 Andrade Garda, José Manuel
A1 López Rosales, Adrián
A1 Muniategui Lorenzo, Soledad
AB Global plastic production increased remarkably through the last decades. A drawback of this fact is that many tons of new and used plastics end up in waterways worldwide, where they can adsorb other pollutants, as heavy metals. This study is one of the very first dealing with both topics (plastic inventory and major associated metals) in South America. Its aim was twofold: to perform a first inventory of plastic litter at the Bay of Asunción (Paraguay), and to evaluate the quantity of specific metals in selected plastic items. Four sampling areas were established in a period when a serious drought was occurring, and litter was sorted as plastics, metals, rubber, ceramics/glass, natural materials, and miscellaneous. Further, plastic litter was classified by size, original use, type of polymer, and characterized by infrared spectrometry. Microwave-assisted digestion with HNO3 and flame atomic absorption spectrometry was applied to quantify Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn. Highest percentages of litter (60 – 82%) corresponded to plastics at all points and their abundances were: PP, 42% > PE, 31% > PET, 12% > PS, 10% > PVC, 3% > PMMA, 2%. The highest total metal concentrations were for Fe (3526 μg g−1) and Mn (1163 μg g−1), followed by Zn (330.2 μg g−1), Cu (94.90 μg g−1), and Cd (18.70 μg g−1). Multivariate studies revealed that Fe and Mn became associated to PS whereas Cd was more related to PP.
PB Elsevier
SN 0013-9351
YR 2026
FD 2026-08-07
LK http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14066/4821
UL http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14066/4821
LA eng
NO Diez-Pérez Núñez, D., Peralta, D., Serafini, D., Colmán, D., Andrade, J. M., López-Rosales, A., & Muniategui-Lorenzo, S. (2026). A first inventory of plastic litter and some associated total metal contents at the coastline of the Bay of Asunción (Paraguay). Environmental Research, 307, 125428.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2026.125428
NO Corresponding author. José M. Andrade, andrade@udc.es; Soledad Muniategui Lorenzo, soledad.muniategui@udc.es.
NO Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
DS MINDS@UW
RD 04-sep-2026